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TWU CONCERNED REDSTAR TRANSPORT MAY BE ENTERING INTO ADMINISTATION IN ANOTHER BLOW TO THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY

Release date: 20/12/2018

The Transport Workers’ Union has received concerning reports from Redstar Transport members that indicate the company is about to go into administration. Reports include drivers being told to return their loads to the nearest depot and interstate drivers being repatriated to their homes. The TWU has also been informed that other transport operators have been instructed to cease contracting work to Redstar Transport.

The TWU is investigating these reports with the company and urging them to immediately update their workers. The TWU will also provide information and support to transport workers who will be affected if their concerns of administration are correct.

“The reports we’re receiving point to an extremely unfortunate situation for hundreds of transport workers just days before Christmas. If our suspicions ring true, yesterday’s pay day could not only be the last one of the year, but the last one Redstar workers ever receive from the company. It is completely unfair for the workers to be left in the dark, especially this close to the holidays,” said TWU National Assistant Secretary Nick McIntosh.

The TWU has received a commitment from Toll to provide job opportunities for Redstar Transport workers. Linfox and ACFS have also agreed to take on a number of workers. Redstar Transport workers are encouraged to contact their TWU branch for further information.

The TWU says the Federal Government is to blame for the financial squeeze put on companies like Redstar Transport after it scrapped a road safety watchdog that held wealthy companies to account for their transport supply chain. This meant ensuring transport operators, like Redstar Transport, were able to pay their workers, maintain their vehicles and operate safely.

Since the abolition of the watchdog in 2016, hundreds of transport operators have become insolvent.

An ASIC report shows that 469 companies entered into external administration in the transport, postal and warehousing industries between July 2016 and June 2017. The main reason for the insolvencies was inadequate cash flow.

“The crisis in trucking has brought too many transport operators to their knees. This is yet more evidence that the Federal Government’s abolition of the RSRT was nothing more than a free pass for the big end of town at the expense of operators being able to survive and pay their workers. These insolvencies are on their conscience for allowing a deadly pressure to mount on transport operators and drivers and turn our roads into death traps,” McIntosh said.

This week the Australian Labor Party announced a commitment to urgently tackle the crisis in transport by setting up an independent body to ensure minimum payments are made.

“Our thoughts are with the workers who are left wondering whether they’ll be able to put food on the table in the New Year. We can take encouragement from Labor’s commitment to urgently address the downward spiral in transport, our concerns today show it can’t come soon enough,” McIntosh continued.

The TWU will also call on the government to ensure the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) will pay Redstar workers for their lost entitlements.